Employment

5 Unusual Freelance Jobs

November 19, 2015 by Guest Contributor

In the new gig economy, the key to successful freelancing is having a variety of profit centers. Whether you choose to have several projects in one field, or work in a variety of fields, having an arsenal of freelance options will keep you successfully self-employed.

Here are 5 unusual freelance jobs that you can explore, or mix and match for extra cash.

Podcasting

Due to the overwhelming popularity of the podcast serial, podcasting has exploded as a way to communicate. These days, many businesses and individuals want to get into that game. If you have some technical chops, a great freelancing gig would be to offer your services as a podcasting engineer. You could both set up and instruct a client or you can be a weekly regular.

Blog Food Stylist and Photographer

Nowadays, the key to a successful blog or website are the photos. Clients are in need of someone who can come in and help create a visual brand for their food blog. If you have a knack for making a table look inviting, are able to make food look scrumptious on a plate and have the love and talent to create photographs of it all, this may be for you.

Truck for Hire

People are always looking to move things from place to place. Whether it is produce, merchandise, vehicles, small buildings or even just hauling trash to the dump. There are many options for freelancers to purchase a used truck and start their own hauling business. If you are hauling trash locally you won’t need more than a small truck. But, if you are considering hauling large loads locally or cross country you might consider starting with a used tractor trailer from a company like Arrow Truck Sales.

Professional Instagrammer

Instagram is the fastest growing form of social media in the city, and many companies like, airlines, media organizations, municipalities, tourist authorities, and other groups use it to post current photos. These companies need freelancers to take photos of landmarks, new installations, special events, and other points of interest.

E-Learning

E-Learning is the hottest trend. Learning about a new app, system, upgrade can help you create your own course. If you want to find clients looking to convert their material into an E-Course, E-Learning is a profit center that has not yet realized its potential.

The key to successful self-employment now is having a variety of gigs. Whether they are all related, or all different, mixing and matching unique profit centers will give you many options to realize your career dreams. Most importantly, your unique skills will always make getting up for work exciting and challenging.

Six Unexpected Payoffs of Having a Sales Job

October 1, 2015 by Tim McMahon

In an age where companies must use a wide range of different marketing tactics to compete, the salesman has somewhat of a bad reputation. While many salespeople are helpful professionals, many people think of the aggressive telemarketer or the high-pressure car salesman when they picture what it looks like to work in sales. In actuality, sales jobs can be extremely lucrative and the experience attained can offer professionals an extreme advantage in the job market. Here are six payoffs you might not expect to have when you start a career in sales.

Rewards Go Beyond Just Commissions

Whenever you take a job, you expect to be paid as long as you are performing. Most people know that the top-selling professionals who are working for the right company can earn serious coin by hitting their targets. While a good salary and fair commissions are important, you need to look beyond the money. Many companies will offer their top salespeople company cars, bonuses, cruises, trips for conferences, and other perks that will make life in and out of the office more [Read more…] about Six Unexpected Payoffs of Having a Sales Job

Six of the Most Dangerous Jobs in America

September 23, 2015 by Guest Contributor

Most people know they will be safe when they arrive at work, but that’s not the case for everyone. In order to keep a highly productive society, some of us have to do the extra hard and dangerous jobs. While there are dozens of jobs with some level of danger, these six often pose the most threat to worker safety.

Pilot

There are a variety of different jobs for pilots from flying small private planes in the bush to flying large jumbo jets from city to city. There is always going to be [Read more…] about Six of the Most Dangerous Jobs in America

Income Inequality — Why Workers Aren’t Getting Ahead

May 27, 2015 by Guest Contributor

By Windriven

Recovery from the Great Recession has been slow and uneven. Six years in and U3 unemployment is finally down to 5.4%, U6 has dipped below 11%. Why are there so few voices claiming victory and why do their claims ring a bit hollow?

This chart from the Federal Reserve provides a clue. It plots labor’s share – salary and wages – of Gross Domestic Product.

In the postwar years, the American economy was doing well. As the chart above shows, American workers’ share of GDP taken as wages and salaries was about 50% in those years. That began to change in the early 70s and today the share of GDP taken as wages and salaries is less than 43%. Productivity continued to rise. GDP continued to grow. But workers were getting a progressively smaller piece of [Read more…] about Income Inequality — Why Workers Aren’t Getting Ahead

Should The U.S. Worry About Oil Sector Jobs?

April 30, 2015 by Guest Contributor

Outside of individual’s holding oil stocks, damage to the economy from the fall in oil has been pretty minimal so far. Indeed, the price cut in home heating oil and gasoline has probably outweighed the damage from lower oil prices… so far. Unfortunately, this situation may not last.

Analysts are starting to look beyond the boost to the economy from low oil prices and see the damage that is being done by worker layoffs, slowing business, and falling home prices in oil producing states. Indeed, one recent estimate suggested that up to four jobs could ultimately disappear for every one job lost in the oil sector.

There is little doubt that as oil prices fall, some [Read more…] about Should The U.S. Worry About Oil Sector Jobs?

Unemployment Down but Fewer People Working?

January 9, 2015 by Tim McMahon

On Friday January 9^th the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Unemployment Data for December 2014. According to the BLS the Current Unemployment Rate (Seasonally adjusted) for December was 5.6% down from 5.8% in November.

Along the same lines we see the Unadjusted Unemployment rates fall from 5.5% to 5.4% at first that seems to make sense. But if we look at the Current Employment Data we will see a different picture. According to the BLS there were 141,256,000 people employed in December and 141,321,000 employed in November that is a net loss of 65,000 jobs… some of that can be explained by the typical employment peak which ends after Black-Friday. Because employment typically peaks in November the “Seasonally Adjusted” numbers adjust for that and so it is understandable that the Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate could fall while actual employment was falling… but how can unadjusted unemployment fall with fewer people actually working? [Read more…] about Unemployment Down but Fewer People Working?

Careers High School Grads Should Consider

December 19, 2014 by Guest Contributor

After graduation, many of your friends leave for college to earn a degree. And while you might have considered college yourself, it may not be for you. Whether you’re still saving, or just don’t have the time, college may not be in the cards right away. Statistics show many different jobs don’t require a degree, and can pay higher wages. You may consider a few of these career options right after you graduate.

An Apprenticeship

Many companies and unions sponsor apprentices. In an apprenticeship, you learn a skill or trade and are paid while you learn. Skilled trades such as electricians, plumbers, linemen, and chefs start as an apprentice. Apprenticeships generally take about four years to complete and have some classroom coursework, and registration. After training is complete, many apprentices are considered journeymen and earn much higher wages. Most sponsored programs pay for all training and registration, making your education free while you’re getting paid. [Read more…] about Careers High School Grads Should Consider

The Biggest Threat to U.S. Jobs

November 10, 2014 by John Mauldin

Today’s Outside the Box comes from Sam Rines of Chilton Capital Management in Houston, TX – a promising young economics contributor to The National Interest and a rising star who I met at Worth Wray’s wedding a few weeks ago and it didn’t take much convincing from Worth to get me to share Sam’s latest article with you. Sam’s work speaks for itself and I am VERY impressed by his insights on a wide range of economic issues – from the evolution of Fed policy and growing risk of a rising US dollar, to the long-awaited industrialization of India.

In his latest piece, Sam alerts us to a breakdown in the Federal Reserve’s full-employment mandate (one leg of its dual mandate, the other being stable prices). In a normal recovery, Sam reminds us, “Wage growth and the labor market move together in a lagged fashion – the labor market heals and tightens, followed by wage increases as labor becomes increasingly scarce. But [Read more…] about The Biggest Threat to U.S. Jobs

Reconsidering Your Resume: Five Ways to Sell Yourself Better

October 14, 2014 by Tim McMahon

When you are trying to construct a good resume, you need to make sure you are using your resume to speak to your skills and attributes and sell yourself to a new employer. The five ideas below are all designed to make your resume look better, and you need to be certain your resume features as many of these ideas as possible. Don’t be afraid to stand out.

One Page
It is definitely better to limit your resume to one page long. Today’s world is simply too busy for you to send out resumes that are several pages. When you getting ready to e-mail your resume, you need to make sure they are confined to one page. Unless you are applying for a high level management position, human resources people won’t [Read more…] about Reconsidering Your Resume: Five Ways to Sell Yourself Better

Outside the Box: Employers Aren’t Just Whining: The “Skills Gap” Is Real

August 28, 2014 by Casey Research

By John Mauldin

Paul Krugman and other notables dismiss the notion of a skills gap, though employers continue to claim they’re having trouble finding workers with the skills they need. And if you look at the evidence one way, Krugman et al. are right. But this week an interesting post on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network by guest columnist James Bessen suggests that employers may not just be whining, they may really have a problem filling some kinds of jobs.

Unsurprisingly, the problem is with new technology and the seeming requirement that workers learn new skills on the job – you know, like when the student pilot has to take the helm of a 747 in a disaster movie. Perhaps there’s not quite the same pressure in the office or on the factory floor, but the challenges can be almost as complex. Most of us have had the experience of needing to learn completely new ways of doing things, sometimes over and over again as the technology for whatever we’re doing keeps changing.

The proverb about
[Read more…] about Outside the Box: Employers Aren’t Just Whining: The “Skills Gap” Is Real